Paul Hester

Paul Hester is beginning his fourth year of teaching in the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts at Rice. He received a BA in art from Rice University in 1971 and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1976.

Paul’s photographs of art and architecture have appeared in many books, magazines, and exhibitions. A few have found their way into museum collections. He dreams of a synthesis between his professional (public) images and his imaginative (private) musing.

His first serious photographs were made in 1958 with his family’s Kodak Pony camera--trick pictures of his younger brothers appearing to lift enormous trees felled by a tornado. He continues to play with that gap between Truth (documentary) and Beauty (fiction), mixing traditional photographic materials with the mutability of pixels.

“There was a time when I believed that photography could change the world.Now all I hope for is a photograph that will invite my curiosity, encourage me to slow down, and offer to change my understanding of the world (and the way i feel about my life).”